The Coalition Agreement: A radical innovation

What's the most radical thing about the final version of the coalition agreement which has just been published by the Cabinet Office? A commitment to a referendum on AV? The introduction of a Freedom BillBritish Bill of Rights? Free schools?

In fact, it's not anything contained in the agreement but the existence of the agreement itself. There's nothing new about manifestos but it's customary for the winning party in a general election to renege on its manifesto promises as soon as it enters office. Manifestos are not binding and parties aren't punished by the electorate if they fail to see through all the policies contained in them.

But the coalition agreement is something more than a manifesto. Its subtitle is "our programme for government". It's being presented as a description of what the coalition government will actually do in office. It's not so much a manifesto as something between a manifesto and a Queen's Speech. While the government undoubtedly won't implement every policy contained in it, the failure to do so will be more politically damaging than reneging on a manifesto promise. The words "new politics" will be thrown back in their faces. For that reason, they will at least try and stick to this programme.

In one sense, this is an undemocratic innovation. Not a single member of the electorate voted for this coalition agreement – it's been worked out since the election and many people who voted Conservative will be justifiably angry that some of the Party's policies, such as cutting inheritance tax, have been junked.

But it is democratic in that it provides us with a document we can use to hold this government to account. That is a welcome and radical innovation.